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Developing Leaders
For the Digital Economy

Transforming Careers, Industries, and Communities

As the economy embraces the age of digital disruption, the need for a digitally savvy workforce has become increasingly important. The Digital Innovation and Leadership (DIAL) initiative is at the forefront of this revolution, preparing employers and individuals for success in the digital economy. DIAL empowers individuals by opening doors to exciting new job opportunities through short-term digital innovation training.

But DIAL does more than that—it also creates systemic solutions by leveraging government funding opportunities and partnering with equity organizations to drive broader systemic changes within the workforce. DIAL brings together a national partner consortium to transform businesses, industries, and the workforce to propel Canada toward digital excellence.

Founded by Simon Fraser University's Beedie School of Business in partnership with DIGITAL, DIAL's mission is to empower individuals in their career journeys and provide organizations with the tools and knowledge required to flourish in the evolving digital landscape. DIAL offers two transformative programs for workforce development, focusing on upskilling existing staff and nurturing digital talent.

  • Digital Transformation Management – custom-designed for early- to mid-career individuals, develop essential skills to generate and implement digital innovation ideas and utilize generative artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline HR operations, revamp marketing strategies, optimize sales processes, enhance IT infrastructure, or fine-tune financial workflows.
  • Digital Transformation Leadership – tailored for senior leaders and mid-level managers, guiding them through a comprehensive audit of their organization's digital readiness and creating a visionary roadmap for successful digital transformation.

Both programs emphasize integrating technology and business expertise and creating a common language so employees can foster innovation within their organizations. There is an opportunity for Canadian businesses to enroll staff at substantially reduced costs.

"The timing and scope of the Digital Transformation Leadership program has been very useful for me as the Business Owner of the STEMCELL's Customer Experience Digital Transformation program. The insights gained helped me better understand the underlying opportunity and secure alignment with our leadership and technical teams." -- Andrea Tegzes, Senior Director, Marketing Operations and E-commerce

Program Brochure

Consortium Partners

Meet Our Alumni

Check out our Alumni Stories and discover how leaders across different industries are turning up the dial on digital transformation and driving digital change by transforming ideas into innovative solutions.

This program was a turning point in my career. One of the first things I learned is that digital transformation has no finish line. The technology we adopt today will quickly become obsolete, so we should always be looking ahead, learning, and adapting.

Olya Ollila

Project Manager

Esri Canada

Through the DTL program, my approach to projects has changed. Initially, due to my technical background, I used to focus narrowly on technology. This program helped me to look beyond my own area of expertise and consider the bigger picture.

Amarjit Manku

IT Senior Project Manager

City of Surrey

I was impressed by the wide range of industries represented in our program cohort. I learned that large organizations all face the same challenges, depending on which Digital Transformation pathway they’re on. They all have one thing in common; shifting their focus on transforming how they do business to meet changing customer needs, both internally and externally.

Christo Carstens-Jansen van Vuuren

Senior Manager, National Operations

PwC Canada

This program has impacted my understanding of my work in the client service industry. This experience has given me a deeper understanding of the importance of managing the digital transformation process and using digital technology as a tool.

Ciana Zhou

Financing Specialist, Commercial Financial Service Department

Royal Bank of Canada

The program really changed how I view a lot of the projects that we were already doing. Learning the terminology really opened my eyes to the changes we were making and how they all fit together. Being able to come into a project with the right tools and being able to explain the big picture with the right terminology has resulted in more buy-in from everyone involved.

David Gilbert

Senior Systems Analyst

Canfor Corporation

The content of the program, the lecturers, the guest speakers involved were all incredibly knowledgeable. I hope I get to meet all the lecturers and students in my cohort one day as each of them made an impact.

Jason Williams

Manager, Innovative Travel Solutions

Vancouver Airport Authority (YVR)

What you put into the course is what you get out of the course, so take your time and mine as many nuggets as you can

Suzanne Fuller Blamey

Program Director, Outpatient Services & Holy Family Rehab

Providence Health Care

DTL: Olya

DTL: Amarjit

DTL: Christo

DTM: Ciana

DTM: David

DTL: Jason

DTL: Suzanne